Three days after I posted a tactical tip encouraging police agencies across the country to “Take the next few days to review your agency policies and procedures for managing peaceful protests, and your officer safety tactics and strategies for controlling violent crowds in the event that things go sideways in the streets of your city or town,” the FBI issued an intelligence bulletin to police departments nationwide to beware of violent interlopers using peaceful protesters as human shields while they assault cops and destroy property.
The FBI warned that the announcement of the grand jury’s decision in Ferguson (Mo.) “will likely be exploited by some individuals to justify threats and attacks against law enforcement and critical infrastructure.”
The bulletin further stated that “The FBI assesses those infiltrating and exploiting otherwise legitimate public demonstrations with the intent to incite and engage in violence could be armed with bladed weapons or firearms, equipped with tactical gear/gas masks, or bulletproof vests to mitigate law enforcement measures.”
One law enforcement official familiar with the memo told CBS News that “Internet postings have called for violence against police.”
As I wrote a week ago, while Ferguson will be ground zero for any protests — whether they’re peaceful or violent — there is a very real possibility that people will take to the streets in cities across the country. The FBI apparently agrees. Another bulletin advised that extremist protests “could occur both in the Ferguson area and nationwide.”
In recent weeks, the protests in Ferguson have been more peaceful than in the immediate aftermath, but we all know that it takes very little — the actions of a small handful of outside agitators, essentially — to turn a completely peaceful gathering into a raging riot requiring crowd control response.
Especially if your jurisdiction has a history of peaceful protests turning violent, now is the time to plan for the worst, even while hoping for the best. For example, in Oakland (Calif.) — where the ‘Occupy’ demonstrations routinely turned violent — officials already know that a large solidarity demonstration will occur at Frank Ogawa Plaza, at the so-called ‘Oscar Grant corner’ of 14th Street and Broadway.
Furthermore, cities in which solidarity protests occurred immediately following the Ferguson incident — such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and the abovementioned Oakland — should be making preparations.
Although no date for an announcement of the grand jury’s findings has been set, it’s widely speculated that a decision could come at any time — Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s declaration of a state of emergency and placement of the National Guard onto alert status all but telegraphed that a decision is imminent.
Even as you protect the First Amendment rights of peaceful protesters who only want to voice their opinions, you must protect yourself against violent attack, and protect the community from property damage, theft, and violence against innocents.
